Barbican 2019
Omnibus Theatre Clapham 2018
Hen & Chickens 2017
Director: Anna Bliss Scully
Cast: Nina Davis
In a world where Mumsnet can influence general elections, tabloid magazines conjure celebrity pregnancies out of post-dinner bloats, and Donald Trump reserves the right to grab your pussy at any moment, every woman's reproductive status seems to have become public property. The Non-Parent Trap is a one-woman show that explores our modern obsession with other people's procreation.
Having found that their fertility was the conversational property of strangers at every turn - from guests at parties, to men in the street, Nina Davis, and co-writer Anna Bliss Scully have set about creating a piece which explores how and why they found themselves feeling they needed to defend, explain or apologise for not being mothers. This funny and poignant show investigates the lives of the 1 in 4 women in the UK who will never have children - through choice, circumstance, or tragedy - as they navigate a culture in which children are increasingly prioritised, and parenting glorified.
Public debate has recently been rife is to whether Theresa May can be considered "to have a stake in the future" as a childless female prime minister; actress Jennifer Aniston was pushed to declare in 2016 that she was "fed up" with her years of body-shaming by tabloid newspapers scrutinising her for signs of pregnancy: there is something inherently suspicious about the childless woman. No woman, however high profile or high achieving, seems to be safe from scrutiny, but how did it come to this? How did something so personal become so public? Do all childless women live alone with cats? Are they all cold, ambitious and selfish? Are they in fact witches? Why do we care? The Non-Parent Trap is looking for these answers and many more.
by Branwen Davies, Angharad Devonald, Tracy Harris, Kit Lambert & Othniel Smith
Southwark Playhouse 2009
Edinburgh Festival 2008
Wales Millennium Centre 2007
Director: Matt Peover
Lighting Designer: Nicki Brown
Composer: Blair Mowat
Cast: Jack Baldwin, Alex Beckett, Matthew Bulgo, Miranda Cook, Alastair Kirton, Natalie Klamar, Katy Owen, Owain Rhys-Davies, Lizzie Watts
[Photo credit: Kirsten McTernan]
Anna contributed to Robin Belfield’s essential and practical guide to making verbatim theatre, writing particularly about her experiences designing for Alecky Blythe (Cruising 2006 and Do We Look Like Refugees?! 2011) and working with Gillian Slovo and Nicholas Kent (The Riots 2012). Read more about the book here.
Published by Nick Hern Books 2018